trennevstrennenConfusable pair

Which to use

“trenne” and “trennen” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,190
“trenne” frequency rank
#3,779
“trennen” frequency rank
45969
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature trenne trennen
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs trennen Personen oder Sachen auseinanderbringen

Where the eye mixes trenne and trennen

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. trenne runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against trennen's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
trenne
7 ch
trennen

Look-alike desk: trenne vs trennen

A purely visual mix-up. trenne ([ˈtʁɛnə]) and trennen ([ˈtʁɛnən]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “trenne” sits inside “trennen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

trenne is recorded at frequency rank #42,190, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɛnə]. trennen is at rank #3,779, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈtʁɛnən].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 45969, this pair ranks #1,335,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of trenne vs trennen

Shared letters: enrt. Private to "trenne": -. Private to "trennen": -.

"trenne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "trennen" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • trenne ← rtenne · ternne · trene · trnene · trrenne · ttrenne
  • trennen ← rtennen · ternnen · trenen · trenenn · trennenn · trennne · trnenen · trrennen

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "trenne" and "trennen" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈtʁɛnə] versus [ˈtʁɛnən]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "trenne" or "trennen"?
"trennen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,779 in our German list, against #42,190 for "trenne". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "trenne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "trennen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,335,022 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "trenne" and "trennen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tränke vs trenne". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,335,022 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list